Set Me On Fire
by TheLionTree
Summary: Prequel to I Can't Lose You  You don't have to have read it to follow this story.   Vulpes meets the Courier before she becomes the famous Courier Six and is infatuatated.  A story of sex, obsession, & evil lovers.
1. Chapter 1

_Been writing this for the Fallout KinkMeme, thought I'd share it with those of you who don't follow the meme. This is the only story i'm working on for fanfic right now...as I'm trying to write more original stuff now. Give me some comment love! oh yeah!_

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><em><em>

Sets me on fire (Summer girl)  
>She set's me on fire<br>Sets me on fire  
>Fire<br>-Type O Negative

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><p>The pass came out to a ravine on the edge of one of those small dirt towns made out of old billboards and scrap metal. A rinky-dink windmill churned it's blades in the summer sun, bringing water up from a deep well, and so that was where Vulpes Inculta started out towards. He carried a bundle of letters from a settlement on the other side of the mountains, they were of no real importance to anyone but the city official he would soon meet up with in this dirty little town, but the job gave him cover to see if there were any new troop movements in NCR territory.<p>

The Frumentarii playing courier walked slowly towards the old well, watching a female figure begin to prime the pump to fill a humble wooden bucket. The woman's long dark hair fell in clumpy spirals, teasing the dirt as she leaned over to lift the bucket. Her soft dark eyes met his and she smiled at the man who had come to join her at the well.

"Are you here for a cool drink of water?" The woman asked with a deep sultry voice.

"If you knew who I was, you probably wouldn't ask me that," Vulpes said for a reason he couldn't understand.

The woman chuckled quietly to herself, and dipped a ladle she had at her side in the water and then offered him a drink. His hand reaching out, Vulpes took the ladle and swallowed the clean liquid. As he returned the ladle to the tall dark haired woman he watched her curiously, she was probably ten years older than he was, and there was something almost mystical about the way she stood in front of him.

"So what brings you this way wanderer?" The woman asked.

"I'm a courier hired to deliver a package," Vulpes said, seeming like an aloof man here to complete business. "I meet my client tomorrow. Tell me good woman, would you be so kind as to direct me to the inn."

"This town is too small for such things. There is a man in town who rents  
>out his lean-to, but you don't strike me as the type who would want to sleep next to a cow. Your other option is to try to rent a room from someone in town."<p>

"Do you have a room?" Vulpes Inquired with a gentle quality, so she would not think him to forward, "That is would your husband mind if I rented from you."

Looking at him like he had told the punch line to a joke she had heard long ago, then shifted the bucket onto her other arm.

"I suppose you haven't come to this town before, and you don't know of the washer woman on the edge of town whose husband passed away ages ago; leaving her alone with a child. I have no one to ask Courier, so for five caps I will let you stay in the spare room of this house."

There was something odd about this woman; probably she had just known such much sorrow in her life it left her with this burden of sorrow that made her a terrible and beautiful thing. He followed her to the house, her bucket weighing her so that she moved slowly. Inside the door she dropped the water into a larger tub, and he placed five caps on the table.

Gesturing towards a spare room, Vulpes walked inside and found a small clean made bed with a worn bureau next to it. He set his pack on the floor next to the bureau and turned as he heard the woman step back outside to fetch more water. The place smelled of soap and moisture, but retained a solemn quality that seemed fitting to a widow who had chosen to live alone in honor of a long dead husband.

Something stirred in the room on the other side of his, and Vulpes stepped out into the main room. He looked towards the cracked door, prepared to pull a weapon and fight if need be. Instead what he saw through the crack was a young woman of about nineteen or twenty tying her hair back. She shuffled through a pack, and began to sort some papers inside and began to read over them, they looked like figure sheets, and she seemed excited by whatever numbers they held.

The girl turned then, to peer out a window, perhaps to see what her mother was doing. She struck Vulpes the second her saw her face, the woman in front of him was a small sun kissed version of her mother, only with hair bobbed short, and a spark of life inside of her that burned from her eyes like a candle.

He wished to extinguish her in this moment. To reach out and snuff that brightness from his eyes, that he might hold it in his hands, and teach her a fierce majesty, born of suffering, which would put her noble mother to shame. Unfortunately before he could act, the washer woman began to open the door, the bucket slowing her, allowing Vulpes time to position himself so that he did not look like he was watching her daughter.

This time the old washer woman moved to the stove, and poured the water into a pan. She added meat, a few diced potatoes, and some leaves people use for seasonings from time to time. A few hours passed and the soup was served, poured into carved wooden bowls and set on the table. No words were passed between the two women and Vulpes, and he tried to focus on the strange smell of laundry and stew instead of the young woman across from him.

"Mom tells me that you're a courier," The girl said, too young to sit patiently in silence forever. "I think that's cool, I'm a courier too. I've been trading with this community inside of the divide between the mountains. It's at the edge of a small military base."

Vulpes watched the her for a significant period of time before responding. He wanted to make sure he had control of his lust before he reacted, luckily his silence made him seem like he was a thoughtful man, and not dangerous. He had heard of this place between the mountains and had sent one of his best men into The Divide to find out if anything inside of it was worth taking.

"You must be new at the job," Vulpes said, forcing a weary smile across his cold face, trying to not look eager for this conversation to continue. Not wanting this creeping need to posses her this betray itself, as it made little sense even to him that he would be so struck by this girl.

"Yeah, I've been at it about a year," the girl responded with a jovial tone.

"My name is Alan Fox," Vulpes said. "I do work for the Mojave Express from time to time, perhaps I could tell my boss your name, and he could give you a job if you're ever in Primm. You know the town with the roller coaster near New Vegas. If you're out there and can get a delivery coming back is the ideal situation."

"I'm Julia Hernandez," she responded with a laugh. "I've saw New Vegas from the Mojave Outpost one time. I got a gig to pick up a package from there. It was really neatto see the lights on the horizon at night. Someday I hope to have enough caps to make it to the strip."

A grin beamed from the older man's face to young Julia, making her feel a bit uncomfortable, and causing her mother to stir and involve herself in the conversation.

"My little Julia is such a help," Mrs. Hernandez said, causing Vulpes to refocus on his soup. "She always makes sure her mother has what she needs to get by. She's a good generous girl, and I appreciate your offer to help her find work."

The older woman picked up the pot that held the soup then and put more soup into each person's bowls. Refusing to look Vulpes in the eye, he noticed her hand shook as she offered him more. Her fear was palpable to Vulpes, but would perhaps be well hidden to other people. She was a broken sober soul and it made upsetting her only mildly rewarding.

A look passed between the washer woman and Vulpes, a quiet understanding occurring between them that let Vulpes know her daughter was a nice girl, and Mrs. Hernandez intended to keep it that way. The Frumentarii felt something burn inside of him, a fire he had forgotten could ravage his soul, tear his heart, and make him desire a woman so wantonly. It nagged at him while he ate his soup and he blamed her.

Julia. The name of the devil, a small cherub faced girl with skin like the scorched desert floor. He'd love to run his tongue down that skin. To feel her hair tickles him as she planted kisses on his stomach. He was a man of Legion, he reminded himself, he was her superior, and women were weak. The idea of twisting one the way he had been twisted, of possessing her as she lost these fleeting moments of childhood innocence was like sugar on his tongue. He could have her if he desired her, and he did. He deserved at least this much.

Standing up from his dinner, the bowl empty even though he couldn't remember draining it, Vulpes thanked his hostess and walked to his room to rest. He could wait for this, try to sate his need, and move when things were ready. It would blow his cover to make off the girl tonight and the web of lies he wove as a spy were more important than any two bit piece of ass that belonged on her back in a raid-tent.

What troubled him the most was why this sudden obsession. Vulpes prided himself on being invulnerable to such dissolute desire. He paced his room for about an hour before bed, assuring himself that he should forget this want, move on from this town and forget the girl had ever existed. Then he hear her speaking to her mother on the other side of the door.

Julia's voice was sweet in a way few women's voices could be. It was higher than her mothers and always sounded optimistic. She wouldn't be the first woman to be stolen by a Legionary so that she could serve him in bondage, but something about the way she moved around free made him think a collar would be as sad thing sitting on her neck. . He pressed his hands, he pushed himself outside of himself, and looked down at the pathetic mess pacing the floor. They had barely spoken, this didn't make sense. He needed to try to forget she was here and move on.


	2. Chapter 2

_Btw I wrote this because someone asked for it, not to fill a Meme in the traditional sense. :D_

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><p>In the morning he had woken with the dawn, watching the sun peak through the thin, used, curtains of his room. He pulled up his pants, looping the old world button through the worn hole, and paused as he heard a commotion in the living room. Listening carefully for what was going on, he determined that no one had entered the house, rather it was something inside that was alarming the occupant. Vulpes relaxed, allowing himself to calm his muscles, seeing how he no longer needed the steel himself in order to fight off a human opponent.<p>

Stepping into the living room to see what was the matter, Vulpes paused in the door upon seeing Mrs. Hernandez, who mouthed the word, "Snake."

There it sat, coiled on the floor, a long thick grey and brown rattle snake. It was probably six or seven feet from head to tail, but as of right now it was so tightly wound it betrayed it's ability to spring into action in any direction it needed. The reptile had probably crawled in the house through an unseen crack or a slightly ajar door in order to keep warm, and there had surprised the houses' owner as she went about her morning chores.

Neither Vulpes nor Mrs. Hernandez moved now, both watching the animal as it lay in deadly wait on the floor. Fidgeting at a long bowie knife on his belt, Vulpes gave a dark look to the tendril headed woman, something quite and grim shared between them. The Legionary then reached over to a long table located along the hall, picking up a small figure of a Hawaiian dancer left for decoration, and threw it, narrowly missing the head of Mrs. Hernandez. The matron of the house responded by shifting unconsciously in order too miss the object that had been thrown at her, giving the snake just enough reason to lunge forward and attack.

The eyes of Mrs. Hernandez grew frightful and worried as what felt like two fiery daggers clamped into her ankle, a frightful burning occurring as the snake's venom glands pumped liquid death into her right leg. She sunk down on the ground in both pain and despair, watching as the horrible creature continued to milk itself into her body. She looked up at Vulpes, tears streaming down her eyes as she silently begged the man who she had given lodging, to make this dreadful instance end. Vulpes did nothing but watch as the woman cried, secretly thrilled by the fate he had caused this incidental and primarily worthless person from the wasteland.

Finally the snake disengaged, and returned to it's coil, sensing the heat of the other body in the room and figuring it wasn't alone. Realizing he was in danger, Vulpes then swooped down and lopped the coil in half, catching the head of the snake, and throwing it into the fire.

"Why didn't you do that in the first place?" Mrs. Hernandez asked, unable to fear this stranger, her life now forfeit.

Vulpes said nothing in response, instead he leaned down and caressed the lower part of her jaw with his fingers. She was beautiful to him in this moment. She trembled, savoring her soon to be death with a clarity of vision that was missing from the eyes of most people. For a moment she seemed to him sinless, a perfect beautiful widow and mother, encased in glass for him to watch as she twisted and finally faded from life.

"Maybe you can suck it out," She begged. "I saw that in a hollow tape once. This hero sucked the poison out of the heroin's snake bite. I don't have to die."

"Your death is certain," Vulpes responded with a gentleness to his voice that only barely masked his excitement. "It is best if you just accept what is going to happen to you. Think of how you want Julia to see you face this."

Mrs. Hernandez started to weep miserably at the mention of her daughter. She seemed even more brilliant to Vulpes now, weeping for the loss her child would now feel at her orphanage. He petted her hair, watching her as she begged, pleaded, made a million deals with God. He stayed with her here, for the better part of an hour, while her daughter was out hanging with her friends, trying to get a courier job. Alone, he savored as she finally broke, gave up and returned to that dull quite calm that had initially drawn him to her. It was at this moment that she did something unexpected.

"There is a gun in my room, in a safe," she said, unwilling to move from the spot where the extent of her lifetime was determined, "Please get it for me."

Quietly, Vulpes moved into her bedroom, finding the safe tucked just under her bed, the same place a million old world houses like this hid such things. He spun the mechanism and quickly popped the black metal box open, dragging his fingers through the insides, until he pushed aside enough paper work to pull out a .22 caliber hand gun. He checked the clip for her, making sure at least one bullet in the chamber.

The Legionary quickly handed the loaded pistol to the dieing woman, who took it with a shaking hand and hung her head desperately over the gun. She clenched the cold black metal to her chest, her hair hiding her face from him like a curtain preventing the audience from seeing the actors before the performance.

"Please leave me to this," Mrs. Hernandez begged. "All I ask is that you tell Julia, and keep her from coming to see my body. Let someone else in town clean me up. I want her to remember me as I was."

"That seems like a promise I can keep," Vulpes said with a dark smile, and turned to grab his pack and leave the house. On his way out he tripped the old world lock on the front and back door, knowing that most wastelands lacked the key to their own homes, and it took most people the better part of a day to break the doors in after they were rendered useless.

Heading towards the center of town to meet up with his contact and exchange some documents, Vulpes found himself cheery, a terrible idea springing to him as he kicked the dust from the road with his feet. After he got the coded spy reports from his contact he would have to cross over into NCR territory, and there was no reason to do it alone now. He would wait till he was just far enough into the country that Julia would not have rations enough to go back, and then tell her the fate of her mother. This would be the moment he'd spring on her, breaking her spirit further as he informed her of her fate as a slave in Caesar's Legion. After all, she had caught his eye enough, their was no reason not to enjoy the fruits of this time he had spent in profligate lands.


	3. Chapter 3

As Julia walked from the hill the sun was streaming down through her hair from above, highlighting the black with an otherwise invisible auburn. She smiled at him, shielding her eyes from the hard rays of the sun, and waving her hand over her head in a care free manner. He waved back, the power to crush her simple friendly happiness with a few choice words burning a hole in his stomach. She picked up a heavy bundle she had put down when she saw him, and Julia ran over to Vulpes.

"Going east?" She asked with a sparkle in her dark eyes.

"My body is moving eastward, but for the love of my king I always look westward," He said.

"Me," Julia said with a bragging tone, ignoring the ominous way he spoke, "I have no king or country. I'm a rolling stone and I ain't gonna gather no moss. I heard something like that in a song once. I think that's how the words went, anyways, I'm not gonna stop walking until I have enough money to buy me and mom a nice place to live."

"You love your mother it seems."

"Of course," Julia responded, "Plus I feel like I owe her for being there after our dad died. She's worked very hard."

"She'll earn her eternal reward some day," Vulpes said, unable to hide a slight smirk. "So are you going to follow me where I'm going carrying such a big package?"

"I have to take this to The Divide," Julia responded, "I was hoping if you didn't pick up anything to carry back east you'd follow me. We could probably both get stuff to take to New Vegas in The Divide. They usually need someone to trade with, in the pass. Plus it's a lot faster than going around the mountains."

"The Divide," Vulpes repeated almost too quite to hear. He remembered one of his best men was supposed to be on recon inside, and it had been awhile sense he had heard out of Ulysses. "I suppose I could be persuaded to follow you. I have to drop these papers off at a town a little south of Nipton, but if you could bare my company I'd have yours."

"I'm hoping you'll see I do a good job and introduce me to some of your contracts in Primm," Julia said, still smiling.

"I'll introduce you to things you've never imagined. Sights, sounds, ideas, a world of things you never dreamed of," Vulpes said, his voice conveying a delicate wonder that had an effect on the girl. "Stick with me, and your life will be something you never knew it could be."

Laughing Julia skipped ahead of him a little, her lanky body betraying the visual qualities of unspoiled youth. She had an easy gate missing from most adults, and where the brilliance of a deep melancholy made her mother shimmer with a tragic beauty, Julia was simply a free sunny soul, radiant as it burned with life's pleasures. It wasn't that she was remarkably pretty, but she had come of age in a world more sheltered from brutality than most. Plus she was right about one thing, she was free of God or country. Julia could conquer the world and only answer to herself at the end of the day.


	4. Chapter 4

For two days the duo hiked through desert and mountain, finally arriving at the mouth of The Divide. They had made simple camp on the eve of each night, trading off watch in order to make sure the other could slumber safely. It was during these watches that Vulpes would glance over to Julia's backpack and watch as she laid resting. She slept like she was, peaceful and uninhibited. Sometimes he'd venture to brush a thick curl out of her face, or lean in to smell the sweaty fragrance of a woman.

She was intoxicating, and it took every fiber of his being not to grasp her by the arms, rip her clothes off, and teach her the dangers of men. He'd roll over in his mind how this would come to pass eventualy, once she trusted him enough, once she needed him enough. He'd take her in a way that suited him and leave her to follow him not knowing what else to do. It was easy enough, get her liquored up, or take her when she was half asleep and then convince her it was part of a great blossoming love. Then once she was at Cottonwood Cove she'd learn the real price that had to be paid for his affections. Part of him couldn't wait to see here like that, on bended knee, wearing the thin dress that passes as clothes for a pleasure slave, begging him to give to her what she thought he had given freely before.

He would own her. Vulpes repeated these words to himself as he walked into a small town clustered between great rocky ravines. The old world buildings were in better repair than most, and a few small shacks were built up between the buildings out of random metal and wood. There were an abundance of small gardens, and a few larger sections marked as community farms. It seemed this was a primarily agricultural community that pooled its resources for the greater good. It even seemed they had started rudimentary Big Horner and Brahmin ranching on the edge of the settlement where some of the desert brush grew in thick veins.

The air in the community was light, and it seemed to infect Julia. He grimaced as he realized she was headed for an NCR building. It seemed the NCR had already moved into this place, ignoring the town as they dug into an old vault looking for new technology. This was what Julia had come to deliver; a box containing some robot they thought might be related to missile silo's resting under the earth. It made Vulpes smile to think of the happy community above, with its destruction festering in warheads and silo's scattered under and about the old world compound.

"I'll show you were the inn is Mr. Fox," Julia said with a cheery voice as they approached a long building probably used as an office before the war.

"Call me Alan for now, my dear," Vulpes responded and attempted a kind smile from his normally stoic face.

"Alan," Julia repeated, "It sounds to casual for you. I'd give you a far more exotic name."

This forced a brief, harsh laugh from the lips of the Legionary as he followed behind his guide. Once inside Julia insisted on paying for his room, a bounty of caps now swinging in her pocket making her feel generous. Vulpes thanked her and made his way to a sparse but clean room, with a long bed made up with a hand sown quilt. He took stock of the room, enjoying the sunlight that streamed in through the small window, and looked outside.

What he saw in the yard made him grow stiff with anger. His hand grasped the windowsill, his knuckles white with rage. Outside Julia was wrapping her arms around the neck of a well tanned young man, and giving him a small kiss as he spun her through the air. She then settled down against the boy's chest and he petted her hair gently, trying not to disturb her curls too much.

It was unmistakable that the two were intimate. Probably this was her first clumsy lover, all paws and need, no real passion. He instantly hated the young man for it. HIs blood rose up into his throat as he thought of this fellow running his hands down her pristine smooth body, his lips kissing her in all the places Vulpes had already imagined claiming a million times. He had to calm himself, force himself down from a black rage as he imagined the boy making love to Julia one night on a blanket atop one of these old houses, the stars and moon their only lights. The Legionary picked up an old mason jar, placed next to a jug and bowl on an old world desk to provide drinks and face washing, and threw the jar at the wall, smashing it.

He stormed out of the small inn, away from where the couple had started to move off to. As he stomped away he thought of how their hands were entwined with a casual touch the likes of which men of the Legion avoided least they seem weak. He marched more than he walked up a path on the side of one of the cliffs, and glared down at the settlement, imagining the place burning beneath him. The screams of the people as they were crucified or sold off into slavery served too sooth him. Pain was something familiar to Vulpes, the joy of bringing it to the wicked, and this town had become wicked to him in ways few others had. His last soothing image was of the boy that kissed Julia, bespattered with his own blood, hanging from a cross, his organs dangling down from his slit stomach, curling at the base of the cross.

The Legion would come to The Divide now. They would march upon it, subdue the NCR, and take the town for their own. None who lives so happily here would survive. He would see to it as soon as he was at Cottonwood Cove. This place was a wealth of resources, even if his great living desire right now wasn't to see this place pulled apart, Caesar would thank him for securing the pass and bringing these farms to his collective.


	5. Chapter 5

In the early morning hours Vulpes realized the reason for his obsession. Julia wasn't uniquely remarkable looking, she wasn't funny, or even the smartest woman he'd ever met, but she was amazing when it came to people. Anyone he talked to who recognized him as the man who came into town with Julia, and had a story about how she'd helped them. It seems that the small colony that now resided in The Divide existed for the soul reason that Julia had gone out of her way to supply it. Few people hadn't benefited, even indirectly, from her hard work. Not that she hadn't profited from her endeavors, but it seemed the girl had strength when it came to leading people and the kind of golden heart you wanted your leader to have.

At first he just dismissed her as another conquest, one more human being to be brought to their rightful place for the glory of Caesar. These wasteland wastrels never knew their true potential until they were purged of the ugly vice that occupied the core of their souls. He thought of Julia put in her place, humbled before him, while his body swelled with the arousal caused by such power, and yet he couldn't imagine meeting her potential as another slave in the Legion. She obviously had a purpose beyond servitude, some dark fate that had yet to be fully woven. Perhaps it was the line between servant and monster that he walked daily for his master, but Vulpes felt in tune with the nature of dark omens.

Walking down the halls to his hotel suite, Vulpes heard a soft lilting laughter come from Julia's room, followed by the booming echo of a male voice. It was unmistakable, the air around what was happening inside. He could almost smell the sweat off of their bodies, mixing together with the dry air of the desert to carry their carnal sins to his attention.

"Whore," was the worst that first sprung into his mind, but he quickly shoved it down. She wasn't a whore, Julia couldn't be this debased willfully. No, she would give herself to who she loved with a great freedom and zest, but she'd never cheapen herself for money or status. That's why she would someday be a great person; integrity is sold so cheap in this world, but for people like her the idea that it could be traded for money was a foreign concept.

He walked into his room and ran his hand down the decaying stucco wall, feeling where the crevices of the puttied on material move like the curve of where her hips connected to her lower back. He squeezed his hands, the dry fleshy nubs of his fingers rubbing against the palms of his hands, making a soft sibilant sound. He imagined the boys neck between his cool dry fingers, the bug eyed fear that filled his eyes, and the limp pant shitting moment when he snapped the youth's vertebrae and left him dead on the floor. Julia's tears would be thick and wet droplets, running down her face with their chubby fluidity.

He'd take her then. It was hard to think about. She was the kind of girl you'd have to sample before you know what she'd be like. He could hear them now through the wall, sounding like they were putting their clothes on and getting ready to go out. Holding his breath as his heard her door open, he turned his head only slightly as a knock came on his hotel room door, and he bade whomever enter with daggers in his voice.

"Hey Alan," Julia said, her cheeks still flushed with heat. He wanted to shake the rose color out of her. "Barry and I just wanted to know if you'd like to go out to dinner with us. I told him how you're helping me out, and he can't wait to meet you."

Vulpes saw the dark haired young man standing behind her in the hall, his face watching his shoes with nervous tension. They locked eyes for a second and Vulpes felt the full conformation of everything he's suspected. This was a first love. Young love. The kind of thing they told stories about in the pre-war days.

"I'd love to," he responded, returning the look from Barry, with a cocky defiance that seemed to shake the young man.

Like a suave gentleman of old, Vulpes took the arm of Julia, leading her down the hall while he asked her about her day and pretended like the young man wasn't behind them. He listened patiently as the young woman prattled on about a million insignificant things, most of them involving her and Barry spending time with each other. He made note of the parts that seemed worth remembering, but it wasn't a lot. Julia's life was fairly uncomplicated and really she was just hanging around here so she could spend time with Barry while she waited for another job.

The threesome ended up in a small restaurant with a pretty typical bar for a small settlement this far from bigger towns or supply routes. The menu was a few stews, over priced big horner and Brahman meat, and a drink choice of home brewed whiskey, beer, or well water. Making a selection he was fairly sure he'd end up disliking, Vulpes settled back in his chair and watched as the two moon eyed people across from him circled around each other like pair satellites around the earth. It amused him, in the way watching fish swim in a stream amused some people, and then a grim looking messenger stepped into the bar and ended the quite dinner.

A man in a long tattered brown trench coat and a pair of well worn leather boots made his way through the room like the angel of death. Standing across the table from Julia, he looked down at her with a somber familiarity and turned his head from the young woman.

"What is it?" Julia asked, the anticipation of terror causing the blood to drain from her lips.

"Your mother," the man paused and said, "I'm sorry."

"Are you sure? My mother?" Julia sputtered as if she was both afraid and yet hopeful he was wrong. "What's wrong with my mother."

"She was found dead in your house Julia," the man responded, "It looked like she shot herself. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. I took off this way to tell you just about half a day after you left, but I was caught in a dust storm and had to take shelter. She's in the ground by now, I'm sorry."

"Why would my mother kill herself?" Julia asked with her eyes big and full of tears. "She was fine when I left."

"I'm sorry," was all the man could say. Then again like a ghost bemoaning his fate he said it again, "I'm sorry."

Julia's heart had broken the second the man had given her the news. She had a thousand questions, trying to understand why her mother had ended her own life. Vulpes placed a comforting arm around the courier, letting her cry gently into his chest. The older man then cast a humored glance at the younger one sitting across from him, forcing a weary look from Barry, who was alarmed by the older man's ministrations.

"Let's get you home and away from this crowd," Vulpes said, leaving a few caps on the table and helping Julia up slowly.

Barry scurried around the table, placing his arm around Julia too, making uncomfortable contact with the Legionary who smiled at the boy with his eyes in a way that gave Barry uncomfortable pause. The younger man pulled away and walked quietly behind the crying girl and his rival, a little afraid of the predatory look he'd just received from Vulpes. Once at the hotel, Barry scurried to the bed and held Julia as she cried and sat on the edge of the crumpled bed.

Securing the door and informing the desk staff that Julia's mother had passed away and that they need not worry about crying. The Legionary was pleased to find out they were the only people on their floor. Rejoining the couple in the room, Vulpes found the two hovering over the edge of the bed and leaned against the wall and watched the misery that passed over the face of the object of his obsession mourn.

"Did you know anything about this?" Julia said, as she looked over to Vulpes, something pleading in her eyes.

"When I left her she had a .22 and a nasty rattle snake bite," Vulpes responded with coolness to his voice that felt like a slap in Julia's face. "I can't say I'm surprised at the outcome."

"You knew this whole time and didn't say anything?" Julia cursed as she stood up to face Vulpes, her anger showing, stirring Vulpes' lust for her even more.

"When I left she was dying," Vulpes said. "For all I knew she crawled to a medic and got help. Not that any medic's can really help with rattle snake poison; we weren't with the Brotherhood of Steel. So as you can see, taking her own life probably saved your mothers hours if not days of agony."

"You should have taken her to a medic," Barry said, now standing to face the Legionary who had forgotten the boy's existence until this second. "What kind of a friend are you?"

"I'm not the kind of man people like you would want to befriend," Vulpes responded as he took a large step forward, and before Julia or Barry could react, he twisted the man's head between his hands and the boy fell to the floor with a broken neck.

It took Julia a few seconds to realize what had happened before she inhaled deeply and started to scream. Vulpes was on top of her immediately, his hands over her mouth. The girl bucked against him, kicking her legs out as if she hoped to somehow fight her way out of the Legionaries embrace. It was no good, he was significantly stronger, and before she could drive her foot home to any place that might serve to disable him for a few seconds, she felt something hard come down on her head and render her unconscious.


	6. Chapter 6

Julia's met Barry the first time she came to The Divide.

Scouting out what seemed to be an old world path between the mountains, Julia came across the proto-community that was trying to thrive amongst the abandoned warheads of the Old World. The settlement was off to a good start: growing corn, fixing a water well on the edge of the abandoned military base, preparing paddocks so they could purchase animals. Sadly the community was lacking several key items needed to make their town really thrive and that is where Julia came in.

Of course Julia was happy to help these people trade for goods with the outside world. She even found a few wandering families that needed a good place to settle down, and directed them towards The Divide. About a year later the community was standing strong. Unfortunately it was a few months after that they had started to draw the attention of the NCR who was interested in the old world technology and a mountain pass which they could move goods through. The presence of the New California Republic had made the settlers uncomfortable and a few disputes had ended in gunfire, but all and all it was peaceful.

The whole time Julia was finding supplies and moving packages through The Divide the best thing about stopping in the little town between the Mojave and home was Barry. They'd started out chatting casually about corn crops and the need to rotate the soil. Julia had remembered something the Followers of the Apocalypse had taught her town before moving on to needier communities, and Barry was the eager child of a farmer. They'd spent the whole night talking about life, how they came to be here, and what the future held. Her next few trips into The Divide Julia found herself looking for her partner amongst the houses and paths, and he never disappointed. Scouts normally spotted her before Julia entered the pass, and Barry was always walking towards her when she finally saw him.

The first time they made love was amazing. It was a time of exploration for Julia who had never done this before, and she thought his dark brown hand would burn into her and leave a mark that would let everyone know the place he held in her heart. Afterwards it was always bittersweet leaving The Divide, but business and community called, and Julia had to go. The best thing in the world was when she came back to him. A thousand little kisses. A million seconds spend embracing him. It was all so wonderful, the perfect first lover for a sweet girl.

Yet for some reason at this moment in time Julia felt removed from Barry, like he was distant and she couldn't quite reach him. She saw him before her, laying on the ground like he was very relaxed. His eyes were open, but it was as if he was asleep. She waved her hands to try to make him move or react, but nothing happened. There was something very wrong with Barry's eyes. Something so very wrong.

Then she remembered: Barry was dead.

Julia awoke in her bedroom in The Divide, stripped naked and tied to the bed. It took her a few seconds to fully understand her situation, pulling gently at her wrists and looking around. The last thing she realized was that her mouth was gagged. Julia assumed whoever knew her well enough to know she'd just scream at the tops of her lungs if left unbound.

Twisting her head fiercely, Julia squinted in the weak morning light to find out who had done this to her. When the door opened and Alan Fox walked into the room, Julia realized she must have been pretty dazed to have forgotten he'd hurt Barry. Then the realization of what had happened to sunk in and Julia started to cry. While she was weeping when she remembered her mother and only began to cry harder, pulling against her restraints in the most uncomfortable way.

Walking over to the bedside Vulpes ran the smooth side of his hand along her bare stomach and enjoyed the softness of her skin. Julia responded by doing everything she could to avoid him, pulling her stomach down towards the mattress, shifting her hips from side to side. To her horror there was truly nothing she could do to avoid his caress. She looked up at Vulpes with pleading eyes, hoping he would take pity on her and let her go, unfortunately he had other ideas.

"You're probably angry at me," Vulpes said, now petting her hair like she was a sullen child. "Not that I care. I have to say though, pealing your clothes off was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. I started with your shoes and socks, enjoying the curve of how your foot met your ankle, and then next I cut through your shirt and undershirt, until your chest was bare before me. then I slowly unfastened your pants, removing them as slowly as I could, drinking in every inch of you that I revealed. You have a nice body for such a young woman, I enjoyed the way your flesh yielded to my touch. I believe your cheeks grew a little rosy, as they have now...I wondered if in your unconscious state you somehow knew the way I was enjoying my control over your body and you were humbled by it."

Making no response except softly weeping, Julia accepted that she had no control over what he was saying or doing to her body. To her horror he started to take off his own clothing. Once fully naked Alan Fox climbed on top of her, covering her face and chest with slow controlled kisses. It almost felt as if the older man were holding her in some level of reverence, taking his time as he idly pawed at and admired her body. Part of Julia wondered if this had already happened while she as unconscious, and searched herself for signs she had been invaded unjustly, but found no hint of violation.

Rubbing his hands firmly into her ass as Vulpes gently bit at Julia's neck, the girl let out an agonizing sob from under the gag, and decided it best to at least try to beg for clemency from this cruel man's attentions. This seemed to anger him, and the man she knew as Alan grabbed her by the base of her hair and tilted her chin awkwardly upwards towards the ceiling. She groaned, watching the metal curve of the headboard as her eyes for forced in a direction that showed her little more than wall.

At this point Julia found herself too exhausted to resist him, and laid on the bed limply as he shoved his hard cock between her legs and began to thrust against her with a hungry grunting passion. She wished her tears were unique to this moment, but they were not, as he hungrily fucked her she felt a mixture of salt and wet splash down onto the bed. Her sorrow seemed to only fuel Vulpes, who was now slamming himself into her with painful abandon. For a second she tried to move her hips away to avoid him harming her any further only to have Vulpes respond by backhanding her across the face.

"Let me assure you that any further resistance on your part will only result in a worse beating," Vulpes promised. "You're little more than property now, and I have no stomach for my property misbehaving."

Something about this declaration of ownership made Julia's body clench, causing a deep growl from the Legionary, who had made sure he'd shoved himself hard inside her before his reprimand. As he finished his thrusting, Julia only felt a numbness that spread from the ends of her toes up to the crown of her head. She had no emotional response to what was happening to her, and certainly no physical one any longer. She'd even stopped crying. If Vulpes noticed he didn't give any sign, and the Legionary abandoned her after his orgasm, leaving a trail of wet musty seaman on her breasts, stomach, and navel.

Seeming satisfied with her behavior, Vulpes untied Julia. "Scream out, look for help, and I can promise you that your death will not be far behind you. I have only begun to teach you the proper place for a woman in this world."

Julia seemed to accept this with a deadpan understanding that forced a quite smile from Vulpes. He then barked at her to clean up, and forced Julia to hastily dress.

"I don't understand, where are we going?" Julia responded.

Vulpes replied with a hard strike to the back of her head, forcing her teeth to clamp together in a painful way, and a harsh whispered, "Do not speak again, unless I give you permission, until we are out of The Divide."

"I just wanted to know where we are headed."

This time the Legionary struck her across the mouth, sending the dark haired woman spinning and disorienting her. Once she found her balance Julia saw something hidden and troublesome in Alan Fox she had not seen before; he was rather like a soldier, or a mercenary, not a courier. Holding her breath, the girl cursed her fate to be left alone with this man, and began to follow him out of the hotel, despite a nagging feeling that she should flee and ignore his warnings.

When she at long last reached the end of the The Divide, Julia turned and looked at the metal strewn entrance to the old world military base from the New Vegas side and realized that she might never see the people inside ever again. Before she could linger on this to long, the man she believed to be Alan Fox grabbed her by the wrist and forcefully dragged her behind him. Still to shocked from the death of her mother and Barry, not to mention being raped, Julia found herself walking behind the man with little protest. In her head she was reassuring herself that he seemed devoted enough that wherever he was taking her couldn't be that bad. Surely Alan had her best interests at heart and wouldn't lead her to anywhere harmful. These, unfortunately, were the last innocent hopes of Julia Hernandez, before she arrived in Cottonwood Cove.


End file.
